install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.

First, the problem.

I was trying to do sudo apt-get upgrade when it stopped on me giving this error

Setting up findutils (4.4.0-3) ...
install-info: No dir file specified; try --help for more information.
dpkg: error processing findutils (--configure):
subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
findutils
W: No priority (or zero) specified for pin
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Well, I tried googling it up, without considerable success. Finally, I found this on Debian Bug report logs.

Apparently, there are packages named install-info. One, a GNU version, another, a Debian provided package.

The-Matrix% whereis install-info
install-info: /usr/sbin/install-info /usr/local/bin/install-info /usr/share/man/man8/install-info.8.gz
The-Matrix% /usr/sbin/install-info --version
Debian install-info version 1.14.25.

Copyright (C) 1994,1995 Ian Jackson.
This is free software; see the GNU General Public Licence version 2 or
later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty.
The-Matrix% /usr/local/bin/install-info --version
install-info (GNU texinfo) 4.13

Copyright (C) 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

And they have problems. The idea of replacing the Debian's version with the GNU's has been forwarded, but I'm not sure of the progress. For all I care, the problem hasn't been solved.

As the link provided says, "It is not Debian's fault if someone has GNU's install-info in
$PATH before /usr/sbin/install-info - don't mess with the packaging system,
you'll just get in trouble."

Now, the solution.

Get the /usr/sbin into the $PATH variable before /usr/local/bin, or essentially, do something that would get dpkg to find the Debian's version of install-info. I did the latter, leaving $PATH as it was. Just renamed the GNU's version of install-info

The-Matrix% sudo mv /usr/local/bin/install-info /usr/local/bin/install-info-gnu

And it works. ;)

The 2.6.28 kernel and the missing NVIDIA module

Haha, a few days back, I tried installing the 2.6.28 kernel. It went well, except that the XServer wouldn't start up.

It crashed with the following report:


(EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to load the NVIDIA kernel module!
(EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting ***
(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration


But then, I noticed that the nvidia-kernel I installed was 2.6.26-1 and so, needed to update that. Well, a kernel installed _not_ from the repository would obviously need a nvidia-kernel install _not_ from the repo. ;)

A google search a couple of clicks later and some information from here, I landed at the-> NVIDIA's UNIX Drivers Portal

Grabbed the 180.22 version, the latest version for Linux AMD64/EM64. Follow instructions (essentially, chmod +x and run as root). It said my kernel was not new enough and tries to download the latest by ftp. In my case, I refused and it continued fine. Btw, you can't install the driver while you're running X.

Note: You should have the nvidia-xconfig program for the installation to go on smoothly, otherwise you'll end up with another problem

Installation and a reboot later, this is how it looks. :)

NVIDIA on Linux, an update

Another in the sequence of "update" posts.

I must say I was wrong when I said "bloody Nvidia drivers for Linux" here

Well, after three more Debian installations, I found out that the problem was not with the Nvidia drivers but with what they do when they are installed.

Err, let me clarify. On your first boot, Debian has a particular xorg.conf that it follows till you install, let's say nvidia-kernel-173.14.09. When you install this, the xorg.conf is replaced by an effectively blank xorg.conf

A way out, you ask? Well, install nvidia-xconfig and run it as superuser (as root, or use su) it will rewrite your xorg.conf. Reboot.

To further fine tune your control over your Nvidia graphics card/chipset, install nvidia-settings. Incase of Ubuntu, it will show up in Applications>System Tools, but somehow doesn't do so on Debian. Well, sudo nvidia-settings in the terminal does the job. So, no more complaints.

Sorry, Nvidia.

Pidgin for dummies, an update

I once wrote how to setup your Google Talk account on Pidgin, but that was on Windows.There are a few differences how to go about the same in Linux, and this post covers it.

If you have any doubts, please refer to the previous discussion here or leave a query in the comments section.

The only change is in the Advanced tab. You do not need to check the "Require SSL/TLS" but you need to check the "Allow plaintext auth over unencrypted streams"

Leave the connect port and connect server as they are.

Set the "Proxy Options" if you connect to the net through a proxy and want to specify a particular proxy, or leave it to "Use Gnome Proxy Settings" or "Use Environmental Settings".

Here is a screenshot.



Don't forget to click on Save!

[24/01/2009] Edit: You still have to check the "Require SSL/TLS" in case you are running Windows

NVIDIA on Linux

:X or :@ I'm angry with the bloody Nvidia drivers for Linux. Anyway, this post is supposed to be helpful, not a rant.

I upgraded from Ubuntu 8.04 to Ubuntu 8.10 when it came out. Then, I installed nvidia-kernel-2.6.26 which was my default nvidia stuff on Hardy and lo, my X crashed. It tried restarting some n times, with no success. So well, what was the problem. I still dunno. But the solution was to install the package nvidia-kernel-173.14.09 The last two numbers will vary, though. Lucky that I found this while random browsing on a friend's computer.

That did it.

A few weeks later, I wanted to use Debian, so, well, I removed Intrepid and installed Etch (Debian 40r5). This time, I upgraded, and installed nvidia-kernel-173. And guess what, it crashed again. I tried removing it and installing nvidia-kernel-2.6.26 which worked on Ubuntu 8.04. Well, it did not work this time. The solution? nvidia-kernel-2.6.26-1-openvz-amd64

I have absolutely no idea what is going on. But this worked. It installed an additional kernel though. I now boot into a kernel which is identified by Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.26-1-openvz-amd64

Hope this will remain a note for me in the future, for further X crashes.

Update: Well, this was helpful, but a better realization was this

urllib2 problems in python

Ever received this error while you were using urllib2. And you use proxies to connect to the internet?


urllib2.URLError: <urlopen error (111, 'Connection refused')>


Set the HTTP_PROXY environment variable and the problem is solved.


npower@The-Matrix~:$export HTTP_PROXY="http://144.16.192.245:8080"


In this case, 144.16.192.245 is the proxy I use, and on port 8080.

Wine, red for now.

For the past few days, I've been trying to run Windows applications on Wine. Failure rate has been high, but considering the type of applications that I tried, I'm not worrying much.

This craze started with my craving for Chrome and it's non-availability on Linux.

1) Google Chrome

This was the most unsuccessful of them all. The installation didn't even start.
I followed the procedure given here

And it died with the following error :(

npower@The-Matrix:~$ wine chrome_installer.exe
err:setupapi:detect_compression_type cannot open file L"H:\\-r"
err:setupapi:get_file_size cannot open file L"H:\\-r"
expand.exe: can't open input file H:\-r


2) Safari

Yup, one browser after another. Fail, again. Safari was up and running but I simply couldn't set the proxies. Browsing local sites was possible.



3) Multiproxy

Ah, the most useful of 'em all. Every time I boot, this is fired up, and keeps my browsing smooth.



4) Foobar2000

Yeay to me for trying this out in the first place. I love Amarok, yes, but memory. It uses up quite some memory. And systems like mine better do with something leaner. So, here comes in foobar2000. LastFM scrobbling also works. Rock on!



5) Google Talk

For some reason, this just doesn't work. :|

It gives this error first.


Just press Install, nothing happens, Google Talk starts up. Like this ,with a scrolling screen of warnings on the terminal, and, no text on Google Talk other than the text area. Hell with that, you just can't connect. It's the proxy problem I guess (since I use a university network), but you can't set that 'coz you can't see the "Settings" thingy, nor does blind guess-clicking work.



6) Paint

This is a small program and we always expected it to work. It does, but has its share of problems too. No support for any other file format other than Bitmaps. We can solve this I guess.

Anyway, it's good be back blogging. My exams are just done ;)

Briefly on Windows, and a lil' about Amarok.

Yeah, I needed Adobe Acrobat Professional. So I just rebooted into Windows. I've neglected Windows for too long, and it is all dysfunctional (uh?) now. Need to remove many applications or re-install them, my MS PowerPoint refuses to save any presentations, and neither is Daemon Tools working properly.

Anyway, I took this opportunity to install Chrome and checkout what the buzz is all about. Well, I like it. It is sleek and very very responsive. Something I _demand_ in applications (and people).

I was checking out all the web apps on Chrome, and while on Google Reader, found a post that talks about music players on Linux. I love Amarok, somehow the other players never scanned whole of my collection. However, few of the users complain that Amarok is slow. Well, yes, if you leave the collection to be maintained on a SQLite database. So, simply put, the suggestion is to use MySQL. How? Hers is the link, very simply explained. How to: set up MySQL Database in Amarok

If you are using Fedora or a Redhat based distribution, replace sudo apt-get install by sudo yum install

Incase you are a PostgreSQL fanboy, or a MySQL hater (frankly, I never used PostgreSQL, or have problems with MySQL, but statements like "mysql sucks, postgresql rules :)" with smileys make me consider PostgreSQL ;)), then check this out http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/PostgreSQL_HowTo

Note: PostgreSQL will be deprecated in Amarok 2.

Comix : "Could not find unrar executable. Please install it if you wish to open RAR achives"

Comix is the software used to open *.cbr and *.cbz files on Linux.

In Windows Comic Reader was my favorite but now that I have completely moved on to Linux, installation of Comix was deemed necessary.

Comix by default can open *.cbz files.

To open *.cbr files using Comix, you need to install the unrar executable by the following procedure.

$sudo apt-get install unrar

Done. :)

Update to Psi faqs Part1 : From the PsiWiki

In one of my previous posts , i talked of how to solve the SSL/TLS problem with psi for Google Talk .

Here is what the wiki for Psi has to say.

** Linux users must ensure that they have the QCA-TLS package installed first. SSL encryption will not work otherwise and you will not be able to connect to your Google Talk account.

And about the stupid help at Google's website(ya, they do have a section aptly titled "Why are these instructions different from Google's instructions?"

The answer: Google uses psi 0.9.3 for their instructions. The method described here is for psi 0.10.

As of writing the post, psi 0.10 is the latest release and 0.11 is put up for testing.

A must for all psi users: Visit Psi's Website and the psi Wiki

Another problem solved: Force 32-bit programs to run on a 64-bit machine

Phew, it took me 2 hrs of searching and some screwing up my system to get to install Picasa on Ubuntu 7.04

Hint provided by Google.

Q: Will Picasa run on a 64-bit version of Linux?

Yes, but you’ll need to configure the system to provide 32-bit compatibility libraries.

Please refer to your Linux distribution’s help information for more on how to establish those libraries. On Debian, they come in a package called ia32-libs.

Simple now.

Download and install ia32-libs. All that Google means by "establishing those libraries" is to get them installed.

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Then download the 32-bit version of Picasa .I was using Ubuntu, so the .deb extension.

By default,it is downloaded to the Desktop directory. Similar instructions otherwise.

cd Desktop
sudo dpkg --force-architecture -i picasa_2.2.2820-5_i386.deb

Changes will be needed to the package name as per the version downloaded.

Messages(*warning*) will be shown that the installation is 'forced'.

Disclaimer:I [NpoWEr], the author of this post do disclaim any responsibility for any harm resulting from your use of the above described method. It has worked for me.

That was just for some fun, cmon guys ,it'll work unless you screwed your system beforehand :D

Psi faqs Part 1: "Cannot enable SSL/TLS. Plugin not found"

All you guys using Linux must have heard of Gaim, Kopete ,etc. One among these and one of my favorites is Psi.

Nicely named ,this is simpler and offers more than what Gaim does.

The purpose of this post ,however ,is just to help out guys out there who are(going to) facing(face) problems setting this kid up.

Firstly, a reading of "How do I configure Psi for Google Talk? " on Google Talk Help would definitely help.

That aside, one problem that users generally face is when you check the "Use SSL encryption(to server)" box, an error message pops up saying "Cannot enable SSL/TLS. Plugin not found" .Now, what do you do?

The answer, which I did a lot of Googling and some hunt in the local repository (I use Ubuntu and IIT Kharagpur does have a 'local mirror' for that) is to install libqca-tls, qca-tls, libqca-ssl or qca-ssl package. One of these would do.

And if you are very new to Linux, here is how you go about installing it from your repository.

apt-get install libqca-tls

If not successful, replace libqca-tls with one of the given packages till you get your lucky one